Semi OT Tom Clancy, Best-Selling Novelist of Military Thrillers, Dies at 66

[kato13]

Sad Day

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/books/tom-clancy-best-selling-novelist-of-military-thrillers-dies-at-66.html?_r=1&

[Cdnwolf]

Great Loss... his novel Red Storm Rising is still one that I take on long trips with me.

[Raellus]

When I read Red Storm Rising for the first time in around '88, it meshed almost perfectly with my 14-year-old, T2K-inspired worldview. I must have read it 3-4 times as a teenager and again three or four years ago. I still enjoy the heck out of it. I like some of his other '80s work as well, but over the last two decades it seemed like he was basically just calling it in. His last few full-length novels were co-written, which seemed odd because he seemed to do pretty well on his own, and a lot of recent stuff published as "Tom Clancy's" so-and-so weren't written by him at all. I found it kind of sad.

But, '80s Clancy was pretty awesome and I'm sorry to see anyone pass away that young.

[Adm.Lee]

I stopped reading his stuff a while ago, but I am still saddened by this loss.

I remember really looking forward to his works in the '90s, eagerly reading the books to see where characters we'd met before would turn up, and counting the various plot threads and wondering how he was going to connect them all.

Once Ryan became President, I started to lose interest, and once he was out of office, I eventually quit.

I honor his creativity-- while some say he repeated cliches in every book, many bits of his plots were quite original.

[Rainbow Six]

A sad day indeed...it's probably fairly obvious that I'm a fan, although more so of his earlier works...I think the last novel I read all the way through was the Bear and the Dragon...I tried one of the new Jack Ryan books last year but couldn't really get into it and never got into the stuff he co wrote with others...

[Matt Wiser]

RIP, Mr. Clancy. You invented a whole genre, and writers like Dale Brown, Harold Coyle, Richard Herman, and Larry Bond (one of your co-authors), owe you a debt of gratitude. Fair winds and following seas, Sir.

[Rabar]

I was just 11 years old when I read my first Tom Clancy book, Rainbow Six. Incredibly sad news.

[Tekrat04]

Let's raise a glass to his memory. For he gaves us plenty to dream about.

[Targan]

RIP, Mr. Clancy. You invented a whole genre, and writers like Dale Brown, Harold Coyle, Richard Herman, and Larry Bond (one of your co-authors), owe you a debt of gratitude. Fair winds and following seas, Sir.

Team Yankee was published maybe a year and a half after Hunt for Red October. I don't think Harold Coyle owes Tom Clancy any debt at all. They were starting their writing careers pretty much as contemporaries.

[Project_Sardonicus]

TC was one of a very small number of goto writers for me.

His Jack Ryan prepresidential novels, are just the best techno thriller novels.

However thick the book I'd whizz through it in days. Despite having nothing in common with his politics and world views.

It's a shame round about Rainbow 6 I felt his writing lost it's way.

His military libraries are fabulous text books for the project.

[Cdnwolf]

Reading the Bear and The Dragon about a Russian-China war and thinking how it could be adapted for TWL2013

[General Pain]

Could u recommend some of his books guys?

[kato13]

Highly recommended for game related content about the potential early stages of the T2k war

Red Storm Rising (1986)

Also Highly recommended for understanding the inner workings of the US Military (Non-fiction)

Submarine (1993)
Armored Cavalry (1994)
Fighter Wing (1995)
Marine (1996)
Airborne (1997)
Carrier (1999)
Special Forces (2001)


Excellent members of the Jack Ryan Series.

The Hunt for Red October (1984)
Patriot Games (1987)
The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988)
Clear and Present Danger (1989)
The Sum of All Fears (1991)
Without Remorse (1993) (Other than RSR, this is my favorite.Takes place during Vietnam)

Starts to get a little disconnected from reality but still a good read.

Debt of Honor (1994)
Executive Orders (1996)
Rainbow Six (1998)
The Bear and the Dragon (2000)


Started to lose interest here
Red Rabbit (2002)
The Teeth of the Tiger (2003)


Did not read so cannot comment. (Written with co writers i Believe so I consider them to be similar to his "Op-Center" books which never hooked me)
Dead or Alive (2010)
Locked On (2011)
Threat Vector (2012)
Command Authority (2013)

[Adm.Lee]

My recommendations, too.

Highly recommended for game related content about the potential early stages of the T2k war

Red Storm Rising (1986)

This was a very good read.

Also Highly recommended for understanding the inner workings of the US Military (Non-fiction) ...

I only read half of these non-fiction ones, but they were solid. I didn't feel like I learned much that I hadn't seen already elsewhere.

Excellent members of the Jack Ryan Series.

The Hunt for Red October (1984)
Patriot Games (1987)
The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988)
Clear and Present Danger (1989)
The Sum of All Fears (1991)
Without Remorse (1993) (Other than RSR, this is my favorite.Takes place during Vietnam)

Starts to get a little disconnected from reality but still a good read.
Debt of Honor (1994)
Executive Orders (1996)
Rainbow Six (1998)
The Bear and the Dragon (2000)
Started to lose interest here
Red Rabbit (2002)
The Teeth of the Tiger (2003)

Agreed. Cardinal of the Kremlin may be tied with Red October for my favorites. My friends and I wanted to see Cardinal made into a movie, with George C. Scott cast as Misha.

Did not read so cannot comment. (Written with co writers i Believe so I consider them to be similar to his "Op-Center" books which never hooked me)
Dead or Alive (2010)
Locked On (2011)
Threat Vector (2012)
Command Authority (2013)

Ditto, I read one of these and decided I wasn't interested anymore.

[M-Type]

Went and ordered Red Storm Rising off of Amazon because my father's old copy seems to have vanished over time...I also remember picking up a board game based on the novel, set in Germany with NATO vs. Warsaw Pact. Only played it one time, but I do know that's where I got my first d10s from!

[Tekrat04]

Could u recommend some of his books guys?

Kato13 said it better then I could. My list pretty much the same as his..

[Rainbow Six]

Yep, pretty much what everyone else has already said - generally the earlier the book was written the more I enjoyed it. Red Storm Rising (co written with Larry Bond, author of Vortex and Red Phoenix amongst others) is a brilliant stand alone read, while Cardinal of the Kremlin is probably the best of the Jack Ryans. I never read any of his non fiction works and tried to read two of the new Jack Ryans (Dead or Alive and Locked On) but didn't manage any more than a couple of chapters of either.

Note if you want to read the Jack Ryan series in chronological order it's not the same as the order of publication. Chronological order would be as follows:

1. Without Remorse
2. Patriot Games
3. Red Rabbit
4. The Hunt for Red October
5. The Cardinal of the Kremlin

From here they follow the order of publication.